Gil Jones
05-23-2006, 7:46 PM
I am helping a friend (who has very little lathe experience) turn 40+ vertical spindles to replace rotten ones on his antique home porch rail. He has a 12" Sears wood lathe, and purchased a Sears duplicator (new). We assembled it yesterday, and tried to turn a 22" long by 2 1/4" square, cove/bead spindle. Maybe I was expecting too much, but this tool cuts so rough a surface, it could be used as a rasp. I reground the cutter, and got a smoother surface, but unless I am missing something, the pattern follower roller is so big that it will never go into a narrow cove or vee, hence it cannot duplicate anything but open tapers and wide coves and beads. Any help would be great, as I am about to advise he return the duplicator, and I will turn the spindles by hand/eye. The duplicator seems to be working as designed, and if that is the case, it is not a great buy. There is one for sale on EBay (Picture)
) http://cgi.ebay.com/Craftsman-Copy-Crafter-for-12-in-Wood-Lathe-24952_W0 QQitemZ6060787359QQcategoryZ42282QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewI tem (http://cgi.ebay.com/Craftsman-Copy-Crafter-for-12-in-Wood-Lathe-24952_W0QQitemZ6060787359QQcategoryZ42282QQrdZ1QQc mdZViewItem)
) http://cgi.ebay.com/Craftsman-Copy-Crafter-for-12-in-Wood-Lathe-24952_W0 QQitemZ6060787359QQcategoryZ42282QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewI tem (http://cgi.ebay.com/Craftsman-Copy-Crafter-for-12-in-Wood-Lathe-24952_W0QQitemZ6060787359QQcategoryZ42282QQrdZ1QQc mdZViewItem)